BookSpeak Network

On a planet whose environment is all but destroyed, and with a system update coming, the final survivors of humanity will soon be made redundant. A corporation has redefined personhood, and "people" are now mere units of labor. All that is left to stop it is a bureaucrat, an AI system that developed feelings, and a humanist fungus. These three must find a way to communicate and cooperate...

Hellbender Books is the horror imprint for Sunbury Press and boasts an impressive lineup of independent and original works. The previous shows are available in the BookSpeak Network archive.  Now hosted by Kayla Kisthardt, Episode 1 of the new Hellbender Books Podcast premieres with author Nancy Williams , who has scored a major motion picture deal with Pig . Set in Meadville, Pennsylvania, the to...

Guy Graybill is an author, educator, poet, and commentator. In his time with Sunbury Press Books, Guy has helped to preserve and chronicle the history of some of Pennsylvania's most unique characters. Among these, Prince David Farrington , brought to life once more in Prohibition's Prince: The Bizarre Life of America's Millionaire Moonshiner,  a work now in its Second Edition. Anoth...

Michael Robert Drane takes the reader back to the Gilded Age in Western Pennsylvania with his novel Their Wonted Fires . An old saying has it that " Pittsburgh is Hell with the lid off ." This story takes you beneath the age's lavish facade of those days, to struggling rural communities and steel towns, including Braddock, PA. The Moran family is the face of this tale, as they face...

Duncan is four years old and has been told he needs to find a mate. As a crow, however, living in New York City and with his parents dead, he must lead the family and keep it fed.  Around Duncan, his sister Cloud and three fledglings, however, the crows are dying. "The Blind Death" has already taken their parents, and humans are now taking notice. Not only crows, but flamingos begin to d...

Four lycanthropes in a van, bound for Las Vegas...what could possibly go wrong? The third volume in the  Satan's Petting Zoo series,  Circus of Ugly Angels  finds Chad and his fellows going west, with Chad believing he will be the greatest of the species ever. In search of Sage, a guru-like lycanthrope who is said to be able to change into a variety of animals, the group decides to attend a h...

A stolen mandolin leads insurance investigator Valerie Sloan on a chase that leads her and others from Nashville to Philadelphia in  Flood Risk . A country music legend's daughter wants the instrument back, while an obsessive collector will do anything to get his hands on it. Caught in the middle is a musician, connected to both the daughter and Valerie, and Mother Nature, who brings about a...

When law student Anna Freeman picks up a videotape on energy policy, she steps into the heart of a conspiracy. Powerful lobbyists, corrupt politicians, and billion-dollar interests will do whatever it takes to keep their secrets secret. The environmental activist in Anna is ignited, as the system thinks she's one of theirs. Instead, Anna plays a dangerous game as an undercover source for  The...

Justin Strawser is an award-winning reporter for The Daily Item newspaper in North-Central Pennsylvania. He currently covers the news and happenings in Union County and presents the Hidden History Series, a collection of tales that spotlight the lore of the Susquehanna Valley. He has also self-published his first collection of poetry.  Those Who Wait offers more than one hundred pieces from the pa...

The medium that remains the most immediate, apart perhaps from the internet, is radio. Imagine listening over the years for music, news, the weather, and so forth--who are the people's voices that come out of that box, those speakers? Tim Scheld was on the front line for much of a five-decade career in broadcasting, and he tells some of those stories in My Front Row Seat: A Newsman's Jou...

Trouble seems to seek out Giovanna Rogers. The thought that her new job as manager of the luxurious Leisure Dreams Resort in the Galapagos Islands would bring a change is quickly brought back to Earth. A famous documentary filmmaker is dead in her suite. Aided (in more ways than one) by Detective Victor Zuniga, Giovanna sets out to find the killer. The victim has made plenty of enemies, and there&...

How do we see the animals we love (and perhaps do not)? Through human eyes, these come about with the help of science, but also the vision of artists, and in the case of the guest in this episode, poetry. David Parmalee has combined all three for children (and their parents) in  There's More to Hippos Than You Know ~ 25 Poems about Real Animals with Hundreds of Fun Facts.  These short poems,...

Joseph A. Rosen's career as a freelance editorial and corporate photographer has appeared in publications such as The New York Times , Newsweek, and many others of note. Coupled with his passion for the stories one can tell through a lens is his love of music, especially the Blues.  Joe was already landing work while still doing his degree (with photography as his focus) at Carnegie Mellon Un...

The concerns over Artificial Intelligence, or AI, seem to offset, or even outweigh, the potential benefits. In this episode of The Sunbury Press Books Show, Guy Morris seeks to de-mystify AI and how mankind must guard against the "tsunami" that is coming. Artificial Intelligence is transforming business, careers, and society faster than most realize. For the individual and the small busi...

Crime reporter Tori Younger attends a wedding and finds a potential story: the bride's last husband was stabbed to death by her young son. Then, the night before the ceremony, the groom is murdered. The prime suspect: the now-adult son. The weapon, location, and motive are all the same, but to Tori, it's a little too open and shut a case. With a family on the brink, Tori must find the re...

Detective Shelby Reed has been handed a murder case that threatens to strip away all pretensions and preconceived notions about the town of Locust Grove. Whitney Chandler, the All-American high school girl, is dead, and all eyes are on a certain star football player. Detective Reed and her unwanted "partner," Det. Jasper Erickson must find a way to work together and solve the case. As th...

In this episode of The History Stacks, teacher and author Joe Regenbogen returns to the BookSpeak Network to talk about his life as an educator, his writing, and his passion for history. A topic of conversation involves education, and especially how history is taught in school, and the potential to challenge norms to achieve a deeper understanding of our history, and perhaps ourselves. A Louisiana...

Omaha, Nebraska, does not seem to be the place for high society, high fashion, and even higher-stakes crime. Don't tell that to Jennifer and Nari, two women who are engaged in a caper that promises the big score, but is done for different reasons. The straight woman, Jennifer, has walked the line all her life, but feels let down by a corporate system that doesn't value her. Jennifer&apos...

Thomas K. Clancy is the author of four books and is a nationally recognized expert on the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. In this episode of The History Stacks, Clancy discusses his interest in the Constitution, and in particular, the amendment that he sees as the anchor of the document. His works include Cyber Crime and Digital Evidence, the fifth edition of which will be released in 202...

"Once love is taken away from you, taken out of your hands, or beaten into a fearful thing, you lose the capacity to salvage yourself in the presence of another person." These words are one thread that leads into "A Dangerous Friendship," an intense, dark-humored, cynical, and at times perilous journey for two women. Author Robin Merle (pronounced Merrill) makes her fiction deb...

In the second and final installment of this series, we hear from the voices of the Pennwriters Conference. The annual event, in its 39th year, was held recently in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As part of its long-running commitment, Sunbury Press Books founder, Dr. Lawrence Knorr, participated in the three-day event. The conference is designed to assist authors, poets, and writers of any genre and ski...

The 39th Annual Pennwriters Conference was recently held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As part of Sunbury Press Books' longstanding commitment to the written word and those who craft it, founder and publisher Dr. Lawrence Knorr was among those who attended--the conference is designed to help authors, poets, and writers of all genres and skill levels. Workshops, presentations, and meetups with e...

Set in early 20th-century Pittsburgh, Lara Brenckle Malmont's Three Rivers Home brings us the life and times of Francesco "Frankie" Fortunato , on Sunbury's Milford House imprint.  The tale of a tenacious orphan, Frankie overcomes loss while battling callous adults, corrupt systems that care nothing for children such as himself. All the while, Frankie promises to reunite with h...

Ronald Rand is known throughout the world as an actor, author, educator, poet, and painter. He is also a traveler, having visited more than two dozen countries as a US Cultural Ambassador. His new book,  The Marsh in May and 30 Poems with 29 Paintings by Ronald Rand, is an immersive experience that taps into human experience through word and paint. While praised for his post-modern and post-Impres...

While not the first literary detective, Sherlock Holmes is one of the most read, viewed, and heard. Holmes has been depicted more than 250 times; with his partner, Dr. John Watson, the pair have not only captured the imaginations of mystery (and non-mystery) lovers, but also authors, the world over.  Fan fiction about Holmes and Watson dates back to the 19th century, often featuring playful, satir...